VOA News By Steve Baragona Anger over the death in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has exceeded fear of COVID-19 infection, as thousands have crowded into city streets across the country to ; But public health officials are worried that these demonstrations may have given the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 the upper ; More than 100,000 people in the United States have died of the disease so ; People in close proximity transmit the virus through droplets they release when they breathe, talk, cough and ; For months, officials have canceled concerts, theater performances and large gatherings of all kinds to avoid creating conditions that…

VOA News By Rob Garver WASHINGTON - Fires raged in Minneapolis Thursday night and protests broke out in major cities across the United States as the videotaped death of George Floyd while in police custody became the latest example of how ubiquitous phone cameras and social media have combined to become a powerful mechanism of accountability for alleged mistreatment of minorities by both police and private ;The Minneapolis Police Department originally had put out a press release saying that Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died Monday afternoon, had experienced a “medical incident during police interaction.” But a video captured by a…

By VOA News The governor of Minnesota called Saturday for the full mobilization of the National Guard to confront what he called a “tightly controlled” group of outside protestors who have engaged in looting, arson and other acts of violence in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The violence erupted in Minneapolis and its twin city of St. Paul for a fourth night Friday into Saturday morning in protest of the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died in the custody of a white police officer. The officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck as Floyd lay on the ground…

VOA News By Associated Press NEW DELHI - President Donald Trump's declaration that he was taking a malaria drug of dubious effectiveness to help fend off the coronavirus will likely be welcomed in India. Trump's previous endorsement of hydroxychloroquine catalyzed a tremendous shift in the South Asian country, spurring the world's largest producer of the drug to make much more of it, prescribe it for front-line health workers treating the virus and deploy it as a diplomatic tool, despite mounting evidence against using the drug for COVID-19. Trump said Monday that he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a measure of protection against the virus.…

VOA News By Matt Haines NEW ORLEANS, LA. - Maintaining a balanced diet has never been easy in Desire, a predominantly African American neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana, but it has become nearly impossible during the pandemic. “We’ve always had inequality problems to deal with, but coronavirus has made it worse,” high school junior Chrishana Simon said. “The stakes are so much higher now.” Desire Development, New Orleans Despite being a hub of gastronomic pursuits much celebrated for its Cajun cuisine, Louisiana ranks near the bottom of states in providing its residents access to healthy and affordable food, according to…

VOA News By Associated Press WASHINGTON - Joe Biden's presidential campaign is bringing on the granddaughter of civil rights leader César Chávez as a senior adviser to help with Latino outreach and building out its operation in the Latino leaders have criticized the Biden campaign, saying it's not doing enough to reach out to the key demographic group. The new adviser, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, previously worked as co-national political director on California Sen. Kamala Harris's presidential campaign and was her California state director before that. She also served in the Obama administration, overseeing the White House's engagement with LGBT, Latino, veteran,…